Texas officials ramp up security after DA murder

Dane Schiller, Jayme Fraser

Updated 9:30 pm, Sunday, March 31, 2013

This undated handout photo provided by the Kaufman County Sheriff's office shows assistant district attorney Mark Hasse, 57, who was shot and killed Thursday morning, Jan. 31, 2013, in Kaufman, Texas. Authorities said they were searching for two suspects that attacked him as he exited his vehicle in the parking lot behind the Kaufman County Courthouse annex where he worked. (AP Photo/Kaufman County Sheriff)

Photo: HOPD

This undated handout photo provided by the Kaufman County Sheriff's...

Whoever bashed in the door of a North Texas prosecutor's home —and gunned down him and his wife over Easter weekend — unleashed a level of brazenness felt across the state and chillingly similar to the tactics of drug-cartel assassinsOfficials cautioned it is far too soon to know why Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, 63, and his wife Cynthia, 65, were killed in their home about 20 miles east of Dallas, let alone who did it.

But the attack, coupled with the fatal shooting of another prosecutor outside the courthouse there in late January, shows little fear of stoking the wrath of Texas.

"At this point, we can just speculate, but whatever it is, it ain't good," said Robert Kepple, executive director of the Texas District & County Attorneys Association.

"It was a shock with Mark Hasse, and now you can just imagine the double shock," Aulbaugh told the newspaper. "I really can't confirm that it's related but you always have to assume until it's proven otherwise."

Officials are also exploring ties between the killings and the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison gang. The Texas Department of Public Safety reportedly warned officials the gang was planning retaliation following a Houston-based grand jury indicting 34 members and associates of for alleged crimes committed around the state.

The threat, which came from an informant, was deemed to be nothing different than what gang members have muttered for years.

No officials were specifically named, but there was supposedly some talk among the gang members about how the Internet could be used to find home addresses.

Sources said that if the gang did orchestrate the assassination of prosecutors, the Kaufman killings would mark the first time it has shown the ability and willingness to carry out such a hit.

Officials are also looking into whether the Kaufman killings are related to the recent slaying of Tom Clements, the head of the Colorado Department of Corrections, who was gunned down after answering his front door.

The gun used in that killing was the same one used by an alleged white supremacist, part of a Colorado gang known as 211, who was killed by police in Decatur, which is about 100 miles from Kaufman County.

As a result of the district attorney's slaying, officials in other parts of the state are evaluating their safety.

Harris County District Attorney Mike Anderson said he spoke with law-enforcement officers regarding staff security.

"This is something we can't allow to continue," he said. "When a law-enforcement officer is taken down, it's not just prosecutors that suffer. It is the entire state of Texas."

The next step is figuring out exactly what happened and why, he said.

Mike Vigil, retired chief of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said regardless who carried out the Kaufman County attacks, the link to Mexican drug cartels is clear.

"It really paints a portrait of individuals who are either affiliated with Mexican drug trafficking organizations — either directly or indirectly — or individuals who have learned (their) tactics," Vigil said.

In Mexico, an ongoing war between drug cartels and security forces has turned regions of the country into lawless lands, where cartel hit men have shown no hesitation to spray people with gun fire in their homes or businesses, or kick down their doors and disappear them in the night.

"It could be a world of possibilities," he continued. "But it is a common tactic used by Mexican drug cartels and it is signature given the fact that this is what they do in Mexico."

A key is that the killings are exceptionally bold, aside from the fact they were carried out in rural parts of the state, where security is less.

Chambers County District Attorney Cheryl Leick cautioned that regardless of what turns out to be the motive for the killings, there is no such thing as a "quiet sleepy little town" when it comes to breaking the law.

The attacks are a reminder that nowhere is safe, and that when it comes to criminals, there is no way to predict what motivates them.

"Somebody thinks we are living in the Wild West, and they can go around and do this and not get caught," she said. "I have no doubt in my mind they will get caught, and her will be no mercy."

She said every official she knows is either carrying a gun or considering getting one as they await answers on the Kaufman killings.

"Everybody is kind of scratching their heads ... and checking their weapons," she said.

In February, McClelland told the Dallas Morning News that while the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas had taken some punches in his jurisdiction, he wasn't scared for his own safety, but was taking precautions.

"I've shifted up my details some, but otherwise I can't do that much," he said. "There's no holes for me to hide in, and that's not my style anyway."

Just two weeks ago he admitted to carrying a gun everywhere and being careful when answering the door at his home.

"I'm ahead of everybody else because, basically, I'm a soldier," the 23-year Army veteran said in an interview earlier this month.

The McLelland residence, which sits on a large grassy lot mostly barren of trees, was still ringed with crime tape Sunday and remained the center of an investigation led by the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office and bolstered by the Texas Rangers and FBI.

Kaufman County Sheriff David Byrnes said in a prepared statement that other law-enforcement agencies were also guarding local officials as well as keeping the public safe.

The district attorney's office is to be closed Monday. The courthouse will be open, but have more security inside and out.

The sheriff stressed the investigation was ongoing, and called on the citizens to share tips, even anonymously via the Internet.

Staff writer Erin Mulvaney contributed to this report, which contains material from the Associated Press and Dallas Morning News